Shattered Pieces
by Enjoyseries
Summary: Four months later, the Nathan James comes back in St Louis with some bad news after having delivered the cure to the last missing parts of the world. How things will go between Tom and Sasha as they meet again? Will they be able to put the pieces back together? Set in season 4.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'd like to wish you first a happy new year, full of good things. I hope that your wishes will come true, that you will be safe surrounded by your loved ones and in good health! I'm happy to come back with a new fanfiction; I've been working on it for several weeks and I've already written three chapters.**

 **A/N2: This first chapter is obviously quite short because it's a kind of a prologue that launches the story. I don't really know what to expect for season 4, I read somewhere that Tom wasn't coming back anytime soon. I don't think the way I approach the story here is really the best of ways, but I wanted to share some of my imagination with you.**

 **A/N3: I hope you will enjoy my work! As always, don't hesitate to give me your opinions (good or constructive, because I think there is no bad opinion ;) ). I will try to post regularly, my finals start tomorrow (yes, I always choose the right time to start a fanfiction) but I make no worries for the next three or four chapters :)**

 **If there are any mistakes, it's all my fault!**

* * *

'The cargo has arrived, Chief.' A man entered the office.

'Good, you know where to hide them.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Anything else you want to tell me?' The man waited, head down afraid of telling the truth.

'The Americans, they've found one of the boxes in Hong Kong, sir.'

' _Và?_ ' _(And?)_ The chief got impatient.

'One of them had worked with President Peng right before all the events, I recognized her for sure.'

' _Cô ấy có thể giúp chúng tôi không?_ ' _(Can she help us?)_

'I think so, sir.'

The Chief folded his hands behind his back and turned to look out the window. He gave a quick nod telling his man to leave.

' _Hãy đến. Bạn có thể làm gì để chống lại những gì đang đến, Nathan James._ ' _(Come. You can't do anything against what's happening, Nathan James.)_

* * *

It had been dark for a few hours now. They had sailed across the oceans from four months to get the vaccine to the last left behind parts of the world.

The night was particularly quiet, in contrast with what Sasha could feel right now. She was happy and serene with the work they had accomplished, these four months have brought her more than she could have imagined. Of course there were more hard times than others, when they had to accept that unfortunately, for hundreds of people, they had arrived too late. Then seeing the precarious and unhealthy conditions in which children were growing up, surrounded by corpses, orphans dying of hunger. But all these horrible images had disappear in a short moment, in a smile, a gesture of gratitude and humanity.

Despite the fact that the entire crew of Nathan James was in a party mood, happy to go home, Sasha couldn't help but getting a knot in her stomach. She had no family to return, no loved one who would be waiting with open arms, yet her thoughts were heading towards a single person: _Thomas Chandler._

Their last goodbye was anything but what she had hoped for, she never would have thought about all of this, of Tom Chandler leaving the Navy. Times had changed, the world had almost come to an end, many people had lost their lives, and his priorities had changed too. _Damn, Sam and Ashley, poor kids._ How could she blame him for making this choice?

She grabbed the railing and squeezed it hard, as if she was trying to vent the anger she was feeling deep down. She closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh air of the night, then exhaled opening her eyes. She didn't notice the shadow coming from behind at first, then smiled slightly when she recognized who it was.

'Feeling nervous?' Mike said as he approached her slowly, mimicking her as he faced the ocean. She shrugged, thinking about what she could say.

'How am I supposed to convince him?' She asked, turning her head to look into his eyes.

'I am sure you'll find the right words.'

'He retired from the Navy! I can't go against his choice, he won't forgive me for doing this and you know that.'

'You're the one able to talk to him, he will listen to you.' He paused. 'We have no choice.' He leaned closer to her, throwing a look around them before talking again. 'What we saw there, that's far bigger than what we experienced months ago.' He whispered. 'The war isn't over, Sasha.'

'I know..' She whispered too.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N1: Thank you all for your feedback! This chapter is focused on Tom/Sasha. I don't know if that's what you've been hoping for their reunion, I'm not as good as many of you here but I hope that you will enjoy it anyway.**

 **A/N2: I'm currently writing a crossover between Grey's Anatomy and The Last Ship, but I'm not sure if I will keep writing or not. I've always wondered (during some crazy writing time), how Mark Sloan would have reacted in front of a hot-headed and fierce Sasha Cooper. As well for her, in front of the handsome narcissistic McSteamy. It's surely gonna be a one-shot (or a multi-chapters, as you wish). Here's the summary:**

" _ **This is an AU story. Mark Sloan is a plastic surgeon and an arrogant ladies' man. One day he meets a beautiful brown headed stranger, and he finds his world turning upside down."**_

 **Would you be interested in reading this?**

* * *

 _Kansas City_ , _why did he have to move this far?_ She thought as she was driving along the road, for almost an hour and a half now.

When they arrived in St Louis, they've been acclaimed by the crowd, as at each of their return missions. Things were resuming their course gradually, everybody was giving efforts to rebuild the country and seeing so much solidarity after all these horrors was warming the hearts. She certainly didn't expect to find Tom on the docks, welcoming them with open arms. To be honest, none of them had heard from the commander since his departure. Or maybe one or two letters sent three months ago, but if it was the case, they were well hiding in the secret gardens of Slattery.

She had tried all day to get in touch with him, but every time she was bumping into a wall. Mike and she learned with surprise that he had taken off two months ago in an old house belonging to his father. She hesitated a few moment before embarking in a black SUV to take the road. As soon as she had left the city – and since then – she cursed herself mentally for having yielded to this idea.

She shook her head and swept away all the bad thoughts of her head, turned on the radio and concentrated on the road. After all, she still had two hours to drive and getting stress over this now wouldn't be that healthy, right?

* * *

 _The day had been long and demanding between the few lessons he had to give and the paperwork which needed to be filled behind; he had waited for that moment for hours. He longed to find his home, their home. He didn't know if she was there waiting for him, or went somewhere else outside, or to a class. All he wanted as he was walking the last steps leading to the door of the apartment, was to take her in his arms and kiss her until he lost his breath. He plunged the key into the lock and opened it, but no one could have foreseen what he was about to see behind the door._

' _Hey, hun. God, I've miss-' He stopped talking, even stopped moving while he stood motionless on the landing of the door. She had just arrived, not to welcome him with open arms as he would have hoped, but dressed with her jacket on, ready to leave and her bag at her feet. The look on her face didn't announce anything good for the rest of the events._

' _I'm leaving.' She let out, almost looking heartlessly._

' _You what?'_

' _I just signed up for a mission in Australia. The plane took off in two hours.'_

' _Wait, wait.' He motioned with his hand to stop, a confused look on his face. 'When the hell did it happen?!' He raised his voice. She could feel he was getting mad, and she knew it was gonna turn out this way. Her throat tightened but she tried to keep her head cold._

' _I'm sorry, Tom.'_

' _Well, not as much as me.' He told her with so much anger in his voice. 'You could have at least talk to me before taking a decision!'_

' _Wha- I don't have to talk to you first to take a decision about MY life! It's the turning point of my career. Tom, you know better than anyone else that you can't say no to this kind of mission!' She started yelling too, how couldn't he understand that?_

' _How long will you be away?' He asked calmer, but still mad._

' _Ten months.' She admitted in a whisper. He nodded slowly, lowering his head and closing his eyes slowly before opening them two seconds later._

' _Fine.' He simply said. She wanted to say something, breathed in and out, then opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. 'Go, you're gonna miss your plane.' His voice was cold and his eyes tinted of a shade of dark blue she had rarely seen._

 _She took her bag with her left hand and stepped forward. She stopped at Tom's feet, she would have wished to tell her how sorry she was, how much she had tried to be the one he wanted to marry, the one he wanted to start a family with; but deep down she knew she could never bring him what he would have needed in his life. She turned her head to look at him but his face didn't flinch, he was looking straight ahead; she could see the muscles in his jaw squeezing through his skin. She sadly lowered her head and then walked out the apartment, her eyes blurred by the tears she was fighting to hold back._

She had been in front of his house for several minutes now, hiding unconsciously behind the wheel of her car, thinking about the last time they had left each other. It wasn't that difficult to find where he lived, she just had to ask to the few people who were living in the neighborhood. Having _the man who saved the world_ as your neighbor wasn't trivial.

She took a deep breath and finally got out of her car. The house was nice, a pickup was parked in the driveway on the right side of the house, an American flag was floating in the air attached to a stake from the window on the first floor and the grass seemed to be freshly cut. Last time she looked at the time, it had to be around 6 p.m. and the sun beginning to set in the distance gave a sumptuous effect to the house.

She walked down the aisle and climbed the three steps before reaching the front door. She cleared her throat and knocked three times. She waited, and waited, thinking about going back to her car when finally someone opened.

'Hello.'

Her heart stopped during a heartbeat, she expected everything but that. She was so caught off guard that she didn't know what to say anymore.

'Are you okay?' The woman gently asked her. She was slightly younger than her, slender and fine. Her hair was made of a gorgeous red and her face beaded with lights spots of redness, matching her green eyes emerald. Not to mention her bright smile _(which could annoy Sasha already)_.

'Hi, I'm Sasha.' She abruptly told her, giving her a nervous twitching smile. 'Is Tom Chandler here?' She wondered for a moment if she hadn't mistaken the house after all.

'Yes, of course.' The woman turned around and tilted her head. 'Tom, there's someone at the door for you!' She yelled after him. She smiled at Sacha, as they both waited in silence.

He arrived a few seconds later, and the redhead let them some privacy as she went back into the house. When his eyes fall into hers, it felt like a tsunami had rushed through his body. He would have expected anyone, anybody else but her.

'Sasha.'

'Tom.'

'What are you doing here?' He had wished to sound less harsh, but he couldn't help it.

'May I come in?' _Always avoiding the question by answering with another question,_ he thought.

He looked straight into her blue eyes, making her shivering. She hadn't felt this in a long time, four months to be exact…

He took a step on his right, letting her know he agreed. He inhaled – not on purpose, or maybe he did – as she walked past him, her scent invaded his nostrils and reminded him some old memories.

The interior was neat and without much decoration. The walls were painted in beige and moles colors, the entrance was directly on the living room and the kitchen was in the background separated by the living room with a counter.

'I'm making coffee, you want a cup?' He asked still in a cold tone.

'Yes, please.' She stepped hesitantly to the counter, put down her purse and sat down on one of the stools.

The other woman suddenly appeared in the room, her bag in hand.

'I'd better go home. The kids are playing upstairs, they've finished their homework.' She smiled at Tom.

'Thank you, Rebecca.' He slightly smiled in return.

'Have a good evening, Tom.' She then looked at Sasha. 'Nice meeting you.' And waved at them before heading outside.

They both waited in silence before she finally closed the door, but even after her departure none of them dared to speak. When the coffee was made, Tom turned around and put down a cup of coffee in front of Sasha.

'I'm sorry, I never wanted to come uninvited I just-'

'I bet you haven't driven three hundred miles just for a courtesy visit, am I wrong?'

'I wish you were, but no.' She sighed and looked down at her drink. He was waiting for her to keep talking, giving him more information about her being here.

'Why are you here, Sasha?' He asked her.

'We thought it was over, but it isn't.'

'What are you talking about?'

'The war with China, it only begins.' She paused. 'You're needed on the bridge again, Tom.' She spoke with a lower voice.

'I'm not coming back.' He said with a firm and strong voice, turning around to put down his cup in the sink.

'Please, Tom. This time it isn't just some bad guys dreaming about destroying the country again. It's worse than that, they want to destroy the whole world.' She paused. 'And they seem to have what it takes.'

'I promised to my kids that I was done with all of this. I can't leave them again!' He was getting angry. 'I'm not the man you need.'

'If it wasn't that serious I would have never come here asking you that into your house, with your kids upstairs, Tom.' She said with a serious tone.

His face was closed, his features drawn and his eyes furious. She knew he would hate her to come at his house, after several months apart to ask him to come back. It wasn't that she didn't respect his decision – quite the contrary – but the fate of the world was depending on it. Of course, Tom Chandler wasn't the invincible man nor a superhero – none of them were – but he had been able to prove repeatedly how good he was at leading an entire ship and making decisions. She was waiting for any answers, but the silence he was offering her gave her enough hints to understand that she wasn't welcomed anymore.

'I-I'm sorry I should've never come here in the first place, I better leave.' She said standing up from the seat, she took her purse and walked to the front door without looking back.

She really hoped deep down, until the last step laid outside that he would hold her back. Despite all her efforts to keep the thoughts away, it tasted like an old bad memories. When she slammed the door behind her, she had to hold back the few tears coming to her eyes. She would have wished their reunion happen differently, or that all of this never happened.

She pressed the keys and unlocked the car. She opened the passenger door and threw her bag carelessly on the seat before going around the front of the vehicle to get into the driver's seat. She opened the door and was about to seat when she heard a noise from behind.

'Sasha, wait!' Tom raised his voice loud enough for her to hear it. She turned around and saw him walking towards her, his hands in his pockets jeans.

'I'm not saying yes, but maybe you could explain me what the hell is going on out there?' He tried with a slight smile that she returned to him. She slightly rolled her eyes before taking back her purse and closing the door.

'I was about to make diner when you knocked on my door.. you like pasta?' He asked naturally as they walked back to the house, standing next to each other.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone for your comments! I'm sorry for the delay, I'm currently pretty busy with college, errh. But still, here the third chapter! I hope you will enjoy it.**

* * *

'Wow, you're lucky to have traveled so much! Dad, I wanna travel like you and Sasha when I grow up!' Sam spoke with eyes full of stars and a lot of enthusiasm. Sasha chuckled as she brought the last dirty dishes to Tom.

As soon as they begun to eat the little boy had started to ask Sasha plenty of questions. The conversation was built around her and she ended up recounting her many trips she did during her childhood with her parents which didn't fail to amaze the children, especially Sam.

'Well first you must work well at school, kiddo. It's getting late.' He smiled to his son.

'We should go upstairs brushing our teeth while dad finishes cleaning the kitchen.' Ashley told her brother as she got up from her chair.

'No, I wanna stay here.' He pouted.

'Sam, I said upstairs.' She insisted with a firm tone, and when her sibling got up from his chair too, she turned around before leaving and exchanged a complicit look with her father. She knew all too well that this kind of visit was leading to a serious conversation.

'I see she's taking her role very seriously.' Sasha smiled at Tom, talking about Ashley being the great big sister.

'Yes, since it's been just the three of us she became so responsible especially with her brother.' He paused, and shared a soft smile with Sasha. 'I'm so proud of them.' His eyes drifted away, as he surely thought about memories of the perfect little family they were back then, well before the pandemic stuff. Sasha could sense the nostalgic atmosphere and she started being embarrassed and not feeling at her place, but Tom quickly got a grip on himself and changed the subject.

'So, what's the plan?'

'Mike had to stay in St Louis to discuss about all of this mess with the President.'

'Does the crew know about this?'

'Not everyone, just Green and Wolf. Mike didn't want to announce another bad news, not after the success of our mission. He wanted to give them proper time with their family without the world _war_ in their mind.' She paused, 'before leaving again…'

'But what the hell is it about?' Tom said completely lost, leaning on the counter with both of his hands.

'It happened during an outing mission, I was with the boys and we were supposed to bring a dozen vaccines to an isolated and abandoned population. We expected to find dead bodies but this, this was far worse than we could have imagined. No survivors, bodies strewn on the ground looking as they had tried to escape from the houses.'

'What killed them? The virus?'

'This is what we thought first, but as we got closer we noticed the bodies had been corroded by… what looked like acid.'

'Acid?'

'Tom, we found a case that came from the cargoes of Peng in a warehouse. They were filled with missiles. They've been examined and they have the same composition as those discovered a few months ago, but they got improved.'

'Improved means much more deadly.'

'Exactly.' She paused again. 'They contain ammonia and acid.' Her face was getting darker as she spoke.

'Seeing your face it must have something else.'

'There was no impact on the ground in the village. It wasn't caused by a missile.'

'They would have changed the means of propagation? But how?'

'We have no idea.' She admitted.

They both looked into the void, after several seconds Tom came out of his thoughts.

'Why do you need me?' He asked her. 'Mike is qualified enough to handle it himself.'

'You were there when Peng's been defeated. We don't know what to expect there. Mike, Nathan James' crew.. we all need the best.' Tom looked at her, straight in the eye. She couldn't read on his face as she had done it so well before. The man standing in front of her wasn't the man she used to know; something had changed in him, the gleam in his eyes had been extinguished and that broke her heart. He lowered his face, pinching his lips.

'It's up to you, Tom.' She finally said. She looked at him, waiting for an answer but as before he didn't say anything. 'Thanks for the dinner. It's late I better get back on the road. If you change your m-'

'Wait, you've just driven three hours straight and it's dark outside. You can stay here, I'll take the couch.' Sasha looked at him incredulous and his face softened as he sighed. 'Things will look better in the morning, right?' She slightly smiled and shook her head.

'Okay, but I'll take the couch.' He was about to say something but she cut him off. 'This is non-negotiable.'

* * *

'Nhanh lên!' _(Hurry up!)_ One of the guards said, pushing an old man to keep walking.

Several dozen of people was walking in the jungle, their hands tied, barefoot and without much clothes on them. You could guess from their face that they were exhausted, hungry and probably dehydrated.

The old man kept walking several yards, but his legs began to shake more and more and his feet had more and more trouble following the steps of the group. After several minutes, he finally collapsed to the ground, out of strength.

The guard arrived and pointed his gun at his face.

'Dứng dậy!' _(Get up!)_ He yelled at him. The group had stopped walking and the people around looked at the scene, horrified.

'Không ai dừng lại đi bộ, đứng dậy hoặc bạn chết!' _(Nobody stop walking, get up or you die!)_ He kept yelling, loading his gun. He was about to shoot when another guard arrived from behind and pulled him back by the shoulder.

'Đừng giết nó! Các trưởng muốn họ sống!' _(Don't kill him! The chief wants them alive!)_ He shouted at him. He pushed him, saying some insults and approached the two men standing beside him. He took out a knife from his belt and cut their bonds.

'Trợ giúp anh ta đi. Đừng cố gắng chạy trốn!' _(Help him walk. Don't try to run away!)_ He told them showing the old man lying on the ground by a nod. 'Đi nào!' _(Let's go!)_ He yelled loud enough so the whole group heard it.

* * *

The alarm clock was showing 1:42 am. The house was silent and plunged into the dark. The hours were passing by, and yet he couldn't sleep as on most of his nights. He was watching the ceiling of his bedroom, recalling the last hours of the day. He was torn between _saving the world again_ and staying with his children. He had drawn a line on the navy, on his career, on the missions and the dead who still haunted him today. He had no desire to go back reliving all of this, his duty now was to watch over his family.

But what about Sasha? She had taken the road to see him, she almost came to beg him to return to St Louis with her; he didn't want to disappoint her again, not after the way he had left her months ago.

What he didn't know was that in his house few people could get to sleep tonight. Sasha was awake downstairs, reflecting on the same problem as he just did. And apparently, his daughter was in the same condition as he heard some footsteps.

'Daddy, are you sleeping?' She whispered, as she passed her head through the opening of the door.

'No, sweetie. What are you up to? We're in the middle of the night!' He whispered back as he lit on the light.

'I couldn't sleep.' She admitted.

'Com' here.' He said, patting the empty side of the bed. She climbed beside him and snuggled in his arms with her favorite teddy bear against her chest.

'Did you have a nightmare?' He asked her, but she said no with her head. 'What's the matter, honey?'

'I heard you and Sasha talking after dinner.' He sighed and was about to speak when she kept on talking. 'You know if you have to go, then go. Mom and grandpa would have liked you to help people, as you always do. That's what I want too.'

'Sweetie, I can't let you and your brother on your own. I have to protect you.'

'Don't worry about us, I'll take care of Sam. He's still young but I know he's old enough to understand. We could live with Rebecca until everything comes in order.' She said raising her head to look at his father. He was completely amazed by so much maturity and moved to see how good his children were.

'I retired from the navy, Ashley. They will have to do this without me.'

'If they need you, you should go and help them. Even if Sam and I need our dad, the world needs a hero.' She paused. 'Mom always said you were her true hero.'

Tom closed his eyes, hiding the tears that began to form at the corner of his eyelids. He put one of his hand on her daughter's head and dropped a tender kiss on her hair.

'I'm so proud of you, Ashley.' He whispered, hugging her tight.

'What are you talking about? You woke me up and it's still dark outside, daddy!' Sam appeared at the door, whimpering and rubbing his eyes.

'Come with us, buddy.' He said throwing away the covers as his kids snuggled to his sides. With each of his kids lying next to him surrounded by his arms, he squeezed them hard and kissed their foreheads. 'It's time to get back to sleep, now. I love you both.'

'Love you daddy.' They both said together, while sleep had already regained possession of their little bodies. Tom kept looking at the ceiling for a few minutes still, with a very different frame of mind. It was time for him to confront his old demons and put an end once and for all to this war.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First I'd like to say how truly sorry I am for the lack of updates since January. I've started my internship right after I posted the last chapter and since then I really didn't have any time to write another one. My internship ends in three weeks so I got some time to write as it's ending. It isn't long nor really highly-developped but I hope it will please you as well.**

 **The real deal will arrive in the next chapter so stay tuned!**

 **A/N2: Sorry for any mistakes!**

* * *

The night was short for Tom. He had been constantly thinking of all the horrible things that life had inflicted on him, all the horrible images that daily haunted him, all the horrible decisions he had been force to take to "save the world". He had made a choice, he had retired from the Navy and had drawn a line on this side of his life and he wasn't a man who went back on his decisions. At least he thought he had moved on; coming back to a normal life, learning to be a simple citizen again, all these tasks of daily life,… He had difficulty adapting to all of this after having spent so many time on the Nathan James, living between wars.

He was a man of action and adrenaline, Tom Chandler without the Navy wasn't Tom Chandler. So when Sasha appeared on the threshold of his house the night before, asking him to go back to these things he had given up a few months ago, he was of course tempted to say yes. But reason was much stronger than madness and he refused, categorically, for the well-being and balance of his children, as well as for his own. He was a broken man, wiped out by punishment, hatred and guilt. He wasn't sure he could take another shot. He had thinking for hours, while he was holding his two children asleep in the hollow of his arms. Ashley's words had bring doubt in his mind: if the world needed him, could he say no?

The sun had already risen an hour ago, the sunrays were passing through the blinds and were lightly lighting the room. Tom pulled himself out of his bed without waking the kids and headed for the bathroom. He leaned on the sink, his two hands on either side of it and looked at himself in the mirror; he had grown thin, his cheeks were a little deeper than usual, he had grown his beard and his hair was a little longer. As every time, since he was back home, when he was looking at his reflection in the mirror, he ended dropping his head down. He was no longer the man who had saved the world and no matter what people could think, this man no longer existed.

After refreshing himself and putting on jeans shirt and trousers, he went down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he could see Sasha from the back, sitting on the sofa she had spent the night on, he forearms leaned on her knees and she was playing nervously with her hands. Even after all these years, he still felt these same weird things when he entered the same room as her. Darien was the mother of her children, and God knows how much he had loved her with all his being, yet Sasha was and will remain his first great love.

He still had trouble believing she was in his own house. After how he had left last time they saw each other, he was persuaded that she would never talk to him anymore. After all, it wasn't the first time they parted painfully and he had forced himself to believe that this time was the too many one, that a man like him didn't deserve the love and forgiveness of a woman life her. Still, she was in front of him, her brown hair falling down her shoulders, even from the back Tom found her magnificent.

Although he wasn't the type to believe in second chances or miracles, previous events had shown him that everything could be possible. The fact that she was there with him today, made him want to believe in it. And although he was aware that with all they had shared at the time and recently, the task would be far from easy, she was giving him a semblance of strength and rage to keep fighting… fighting for his kids, for her, for _them._

She seemed to be deep in her thoughts because she hadn't responded to Tom's arrival.

"Hey" He said. She jerked slightly and turned to the voice, she smiled and straightened up when she caught sight of him. "Hey!"

"Slept well?" He asked as he walked over to the kitchen.

"Your sofa is pretty comfortable." She shrugged as she approached him and he chuckled.

"You are the first person to say that my sofa is _comfortable._ "

"I'm a one woman army, I've learned to sleep anywhere." She joked and shared a brief complicity look with him.

"Coffee?" He offered. She nodded as she kept walking closer until she was right next to him, at a reasonable distance. She was looking at him, and felt a strange feeling. She found herself disturbed by this semblance of normal life, that semblance of life that they could have had. When he handed her the cup, she grabbed it and stroked his fingers in a feather touch. Tom had noticed for a while that she was watching him, with a light smile on her face. The blue of his shirt was bringing out the blue of his eyes.

"What makes you smile like that?" He found himself smiling too.

"I like your new look."

"The look of a neglected man?!"

"You are not neglected, you're hot." She said it just before taking a sip of the hot liquid, trying to hide her teasing smile behind the cup but the look in her eyes just betrayed her. The silence quickly came back in the room, neither Tom nor she knew how to engage the conversation. The tension was too hard to bear for Sasha and she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Tom, you know… If you don't want to, I won't force you." She started.

"I know…"

"I don't know if coming here was one of my brightest ideas but… when you make your decision, if you haven't already, do it thinking about your children." He gave her a questioning look so she kept going. "If we don't stop these people, they will destroy the world your children, and all others, are growing in."

"Sasha…" She cut him off."

"If you don't do it for yourself, do it for them." Their eyes were lost in each other's gaze for a brief moment, when Sam suddenly burst behind Sasha.

"Hello daddy! Hello Sasha!" They had to put an end to their exchange and both adorned a smile which concealed their emotions.

"Hey buddy," Tom said to his son, ruffling his hair as he walked past him. The boy walked around the island and climbed up on a stool.

"What do you want for breakfast?" His dad asked and the kid shrugged as they both looked at each other without saying anything.

"How about pancakes with chocolate chips?" Sasha suggested, then turned to Tom. The face of the child lit up with happiness.

"Yes!" He jumped up on his chair and quickly went down. "I'm going to get Ashley!" He rushed upstairs as if they were Christmas morning. Tom shook his head with a smile and met Sasha's gaze again; she gave him a shy smile.

"I hope you've improved your cooking skills since last time." He said, pretending to be surprised.

"Hey!" She gave him a slight kick in the shoulder. "My dishes weren't as disastrous as yours!" They both chuckled and the silence settled again between them as they ended looking tenderly at each other…

"Thank you." He finally whispered to her.

 **TBC...**


End file.
